Photos show how coronavirus precautions left everything from schools to stadiums deserted across Spain — as more than 1,600 cases have already been reported

A pedestrian walks along an empty street in the old village of Haro, northern Spain, Monday, March 9, 2020. Health authorities in the Madrid region say that infections for the new coronavirus have more than doubled in the past 24 hours
A pedestrian walks along an empty street in the old village of Haro, northern Spain, Monday, March 9, 2020. Health authorities in the Madrid region say that infections for the new coronavirus have more than doubled in the past 24 hours

AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos

  • Spain is seeing a surge of new coronavirus cases. The country’s total number of confirmed cases has tripled since Sunday, Reuters reported. 

  • The country is trying to avoid an outbreak on the scale of Italy’s current coronavirus outbreak. 

  • In impacted regions, schools have been closed for two weeks, soccer games will be played without an audience, and some towns have been quarantined. 

  • In Madrid, the Rioja region, and the northern Basque Country, gatherings of more than 1,000 were banned.

  • So far in Spain more than 1,600 have been infected and at least 36 people have died from the new coronavirus. 

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Since Sunday, Spain’s confirmed number of COVID-19 cases tripled. The outbreak has hit three regions — Madrid, the Rioja region, and the northern Basque region — particularly hard.

spain coronavirus 2
spain coronavirus 2

AP Photo/Manu Fernandez

There have been at least 36 deaths, according to Reuters. Spain, which currently has at least 1,600 coronavirus cases pledged to do whatever it takes to stop the spread of the virus and not allow it to reach the scope currently impacting Italy. 

In Madrid, Spain’s capital, the lower parliament cancelled sessions for a week, after one lawmaker was diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Spain coronavirus 3
Spain coronavirus 3

AP Photo/Bernat Armangue

Source: Reuters

Schools in Madrid and city of Vitoria, in the northern Basque region, will close for two weeks in an effort to curb the spread.

spain coronavirus
spain coronavirus

AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos

Source: Associated Press

For Madrid, which has seen a growing number of COVID-19 cases, the closures will affect Kindergarten all the way through the university level.

spain coronavirus 6
spain coronavirus 6

AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos

Source: Associated Press

Soccer games in the country will be played in empty stadiums for at least two weeks to stop the spread of the virus in the country. Several other European countries are enacting similar measures including France and Portugal.

spain coronavirus
spain coronavirus

AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti

Source: Associated Press

Police are helping enforce a quarantine of the 11,000 residents in the town of Haro, located in the Rioja region. Around 30 cases were reported in Haro. Fines for breaking the quarantine may be between 3,000-600,000 euros, according to authorities.

spain coronavirus 5
spain coronavirus 5

AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti

Source: Associated Press

In Haro, authorities believe the outbreak there stemmed from a funeral in the northern region of the country, and some of the cases in the Basque Country region can also be tied to the funeral.

spain coronavirus 7
spain coronavirus 7

AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos

Source: Associated Press

Other measures put in place to stop the spread also included churches telling people to stop kissing statues of Jesus and Mary, as part of a pre-Easter tradition.

spain coronavirus 8
spain coronavirus 8

AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos

Source:Reuters

The country also suspended flight from Italy.

spain coronavirus 9
spain coronavirus 9

AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos

Source: Reuters

Indoor events that hosted more than 1,000 people were also banned in the three most most affected regions.

spain coronavirus 10
spain coronavirus 10

AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos

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source: yahoo.com